Family – The Compasshttps://www.spokeo.com/compass
by SpokeoSat, 15 Dec 2018 00:19:54 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=5.0.1https://www.spokeo.com/compass/image/2017/08/Compass-Favicon.pngFamily – The Compasshttps://www.spokeo.com/compass
3232131818602How to Reconnect with Friends & Family Over the Holidayshttps://www.spokeo.com/compass/how-to-reconnect-with-friends-family-over-the-holidays/
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 01:21:06 +0000https://www.spokeo.com/compass/?p=17084

The holidays are here, bringing with them family, friends, and terrifyingly ugly sweaters. It’s a time to reflect on the past year and to start to think about New Year’s resolutions. One of the most rewarding resolutions is reconnecting with friends or family we’ve lost touch with. But why wait for the New Year? Here’s how you […]

The holidays are here, bringing with them family, friends, and terrifyingly ugly sweaters.

It’s a time to reflect on the past year and to start to think about New Year’s resolutions.

One of the most rewarding resolutions is reconnecting with friends or family we’ve lost touch with. But why wait for the New Year?

Here’s how you can reconnect with them today so you can spend the holidays together.

Getting Back in Touch

The holidays are a time for families and friends to come together to share food, drink and conversation in a joyful, loving atmosphere.

Even in the age of social media, it’s still common for friends, neighbors, even family to drift apart. People may have changed phone numbers, moved out of state, or even adopted a new last name through marriage.

If there’s any time to rekindle old relationships, it’s surely the holidays. But what do you do if you no longer know the best way to reach them?

How to Find Someone You’ve Lost

The best approach is to use a people search engine.

People search engines aggregate information from thousands of sources including government records, white pages, social media profiles and census data to assemble easy-to-read profiles about people in the U.S.

You can easily search their name here to find more info. Once you have a match, you have the option to view a report that may contain contact information, location history and more. The results can vary in detail, but there’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for.

One alternative option (if you have an old phone number) is to enter a phone number into the search bar to look for an owner/name match. If it finds one you’ll have the option to view a profile with the most person’s most recent address and potentially new contact info you can use to reach out (including available phone numbers, email addresses or social media profiles).

There’s no better way to end the year than to start anew with those who are important to you. Give it a try today.

Cyberbullying is a growing issue affecting young people everywhere. It’s an inescapable form of harassment that can have damaging long-term effects on its victims. According to the i-Safe Foundation, 42% of kids and teens have been the target of cyberbullying. It’s up to you as a parent to be on the lookout for the warning signs. […]

These types of social platforms are where bullying becomes cyberbullying.It can take the form of a tagged photo with a mocking caption shared on Instagram, a critical public Facebook status, or a taunting group text message.

The impact can be more devastating than face-to-face bullying because of the public and permanent nature of these platforms.

A post can be seen by hundreds of followers and stays there until the bully decides to take it down. This leaves the victim feeling both humiliated and totally helpless.

Father & Son Distance knows no bounds for this family. Although separated by multiple states, Foster and his father have a ritual in which his father calls him every Sunday to catch up. This Sunday was different, no phone call ever came. The fear started to sink in after multiple attempts to reach his father […]

Father & Son

Distance knows no bounds for this family. Although separated by multiple states, Foster and his father have a ritual in which his father calls him every Sunday to catch up. This Sunday was different, no phone call ever came. The fear started to sink in after multiple attempts to reach his father with no answer.

A Father’s Safety

Keeping a level head, Foster remembered the first name of one of his dad’s neighbors and quickly signed up for Spokeo to find the man’s contact information. After doing an address search, he came across the neighbor’s familiar name. He instantly located a phone number and called it. To everyone’s relief, the neighbor answered.

A Son’s Relief

“I used your service to get his neighbor’s information. They went over to check on my dad and he was fine. They had a big thunderstorm that caused power outages, which is why I wasn’t able to get a hold of him.”

We are so glad that we were able to give Foster peace of mind that his father was safe and sound. Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you are unable to reach a family member in another state, you can always head to Spokeo to find contact information for neighbors who can check up on your loved one.

The chances that your child may fall victim to an online predator are rare, but the danger is still very real. A study from the University of New Hampshire’s Crimes Against Children Research Center found that while reports have been steadily decreasing, 9% of children surveyed in 2010 reported receiving unwanted sexual solicitations online. Here […]

1. Educate and Empower

The first step in helping your child to avoid online predators is to educate them on the danger itself. Just as you would caution them about accepting rides or gifts from strangers, teach them about talking to strangers online in a manner that doesn’t scare them as much as make them aware.

Christine Elgersma from child advocacy non-profit Common Sense Mediasuggests that parents let the child know that “there’s a chance someone could approach them online to get personal information, exchange pictures, and/or meet in person, and it might be someone who feels like an online friend.”

Tell them it’s rare, but it happens, and if does they should go straight to the nearest adult. Also remind them to never share personal information or pictures with someone they don’t know.

2. Monitor Your Child’s Online Activity

Most children spend hours online or in front of screens every day chatting, watching videos, playing games, texting and sharing pictures. While most of the time they are interacting with friends, there’s always a chance they could come in contact with a stranger with an ulterior motive.

Online predators thrive in chat rooms, online forums, social networks and anywhere else that gives them the ability to interact anonymously behind a screenname or profile picture. Whether your child is using a phone, a tablet or a laptop, you have the right to know what who they’re talking to.

Fortunately, there are a variety of parental control apps on the market to help you monitor your child’s activity online and see who they’re texting. Apps like FamilyTime not only allow you to limit screen-time, but will give you browser history, phone/text logs, app usage and more.

Keep tabs on who they call, email or text with. If you don’t recognize certain numbers or email addresses feel free to search them using a people search engine so you can see more detailed information including name, location, criminal history, sex offender status and more. If they appear at all suspicious you can use your control app to block them from reaching out again.

3. Look for Warning Signs

Parental control apps, however helpful, can only reveal part of the picture. Some possible warning signs that your child may be in contact with an online predator include:

Hiding their phonescreen or shutting their laptop when you enter the room

Receiving calls, texts or gifts from people you don’t know

Taking inappropriate pictures or videos of themselves

Lashing out when told to end online game or put phone away

Becoming secretive about phone or computer use

Acting depressed or withdrawn

Any of the above could be warning signs that your child may be in danger. Step in right away and non-threateningly seek to find the truth. Monitoring your child’s behavior is just as important as monitoring their activities online.

Again, it’s extremely unlikely that your child will ever fall prey to an online predator. Neither you nor they need to live in constant fear. All it takes is a little education and vigilance to keep them safe. And It starts with you.

Many moms rely on one another for tips as to where kids can play safely. Pandora has three young boys, and she’s always trying to find new ways to help her boys stay mentally engaged and entertained. Her oldest son, John (not his real name), was 13 years old and loved computer games. So when […]

Many moms rely on one another for tips as to where kids can play safely. Pandora has three young boys, and she’s always trying to find new ways to help her boys stay mentally engaged and entertained. Her oldest son, John (not his real name), was 13 years old and loved computer games. So when a mom friend recommended a particular gaming site, Pandora was delighted. The massive games site seemed like a one-stop gamer’s dream. And sign-up was easy: just enter an age, username and password.

Enter the Predator

Soon John was spending hours every week playing the many great kid-friendly games that the site offers. He made several friends, including a 13-year-old girl using the screen name “Ashbaby.” She seemed really interested in John and the two quickly became more than just online friends. Ashbaby sent John a photo of herself, which just added fuel to the fire of young love. Like a lot of adolescents, John felt pressure at school to have a girlfriend. He quickly fell under the spell of his new online friend, romantically filling in the gaps of information with his imagination. He felt like he was really getting to know her even though they’d never met in person.

Instagram Infamous

John and his game site friends moved their conversations to a social media site, where they shared things like their cell phone numbers via private accounts. Ashbaby continued to say all the things John needed to hear, giving him that romantic connection teens crave. Over time, she urged John to share more and more explicit photos and videos of himself. John even sent her a photo of his house with his address. He told her that he loved her, and that he trusted her more than he trusted his own family.

Mom and MTV’s Catfish

Meanwhile, Pandora wasn’t monitoring his phone because she wanted to give John some space. He’d always been a good kid. He seemed to be managing his online time pretty well. Over the next two years, however, John seemed increasingly withdrawn. Not himself. At first she wrote it off to him being a “moody teen.” Even then, something about his behavior didn’t seem right.

A Horrifying Revelation

In the numerous messages John had exchanged with Ashbaby and the “others,” Pandora discovered overwhelming evidence of classic pedophile grooming. She found several phone numbers on John’s phone, as if different people were texting him. But when Pandora searched every phone number on Spokeo, she learned that they all belonged to a single adult man. Then, to her horror, she discovered the photos and videos her son had been sending the man.

Pandora ran a reverse image search on Google for the one photo that Ashbaby had sent John. Not only had the photo had been stolen, but the girl in the photo was actually a 13-year-old girl who’d killed herself.

Shaking with rage, Pandora found the latest text that the predator had sent her son and typed a response…

“I KNOW WHO YOU ARE”

At first, John couldn’t believe what his mother was telling him, but when the police detectives took his phone for evidence and opened the investigation, he gradually understood how he’d been tricked. Through the experience, even Pandora’s two younger boys have also learned not to trust what people tell them online, that people can easily misrepresent themselves.

Pandora regrets sending that text, but any parent would have understood the impulse. The investigation is still underway.

Parents Beware

Pandora warns parents that they should search their children’s contact numbers on Spokeo. “I wish I’d done it sooner,” she says. “But maybe if we get the word out, other parents won’t have to go through what we’re going through.”

Moving your family can be scary. If you’re looking at a new neighborhood, it’s safe to say that safety is your number one priority. Fortunately, you can alleviate a lot of worry by doing a little research up front. Here are 5 tips for keeping your family safe while moving to a new neighborhood. […]

Moving your family can be scary. If you’re looking at a new neighborhood, it’s safe to say that safety is your number one priority. Fortunately, you can alleviate a lot of worry by doing a little research up front. Here are 5 tips for keeping your family safe while moving to a new neighborhood.

Check the Neighborhood’s Safety Score

Researching neighborhoods is just as important as researching homes. It’s all well and good to compare window treatments or kitchen floors, but when it comes to family safety, it’s outside of the home that really matters.

There are a variety of sites you can look at to get an idea of your new neighborhood. Google Maps will show you what’s around (parks, businesses, churches, schools), but sites like NeighborhoodScout or AreaVibes will give you a lot more in terms of assessing a neighborhood’s safety, livability, amenities, etc.

Both allow you to search any area and see how it stacks up against national averages of crime, quality of schools, cost of living and more.

Take a Walk

AreaVibes or NeighborhoodScout are helpful, but nothing beats first-hand experience. Take a walk by yourself or with your partner to get the lay of the land before you allow your kids to roam your new neighborhood.

Familiarize yourself with the places around the home that may pose dangers: unsafe parks, busy intersections, unsavory empty lots, etc. This will help you get a real idea of where your children will be playing, going to school and meeting friends (or strangers).

Get to Know the Neighbors

As a parent, your child’s safety comes first, and that means it’s crucial to know who lives next door.

There are many sites you can use to research neighbors. People search engines like Spokeo allow you to reverse search an address and get information on current residents, including names, ages, home value, criminal records, sex offender status and more.

Explore the Area at Night

Areas that feel safe during the daytime may change character once the sun goes down. Take a drive around at night to get a sense of what your neighborhood at night.

If you notice suspicious people coming out and feel the urge to lock your car doors, it may not be a good place to raise your kids. Feeling like you can’t leave the house at night may make you feel trapped like a prisoner in your own home. Always get a feel for what your new neighborhood looks like after dark.

Research/Join Neighborhood Watch Group

Neighborhood watch groups are community organizations dedicated towards preventing crime and vandalism. If you’re thinking about moving to a certain area, it’s a good idea to find out about your local group and get involved.

Joining one right away will help make you feel more aware about any safety issues facing the community. It’s also a good way to meet your neighbors and build trust.

Doing research on a new neighborhood will take time, but it will give you peace of mind. As with any other major life change, a little planning can go a long way.

Becoming a parent means accepting a life that revolves around your child. You strive to teach them everything you can, make them feel loved, and keep them safe. With the current environment, it’s no surprise parental fears are running high. A recent survey found five common fears that parents have for their children: Accident: 30% […]

Becoming a parent means accepting a life that revolves around your child. You strive to teach them everything you can, make them feel loved, and keep them safe. With the current environment, it’s no surprise parental fears are running high.

A recent survey found five common fears that parents have for their children:

Accident: 30% fear someone or something will hurt their child

Attacked: 25% worry someone could hurt or attack their child

Unsafe: 23% fear their child won’t feel safe in the world

Abducted: 14% fear child abduction

Bullied: 8% worry someone will bully their child

Are Parent Fears Founded?

Unfortunately, many are. Child accidents frequently occur. And the possibility of a child being attacked is high on every parent’s mind given the frequency of school shootings. Homicide is responsible for more deaths among 10-24 year-olds than cancer, heart disease, flu and pneumonia, respiratory diseases, strokes and diabetes combined. Bullying is pervasive, as well, and has serious mental health consequences.

How to Keep Kids Safe

Accidents are unpredictable. However, you can keep your children safe from violence, predators and cyberbullies by using people search technologies.

Keep Kids Safe From Strangers

Sadly, after large-scale violence happens, there is often a hindsight sentiment that there was “something off” about the perpetrator. Has your child described any teachers, staff, or other students as being odd? Search their names in Spokeo. You may find they have a troubling past that’s worth bringing up to others.

If another student at school makes your child uncomfortable, teach your child tactful ways to keep his or her distance, and look up the other child’s parents in Spokeo. Examine their social media profiles to see if they seem irresponsible, are weapons enthusiasts, or are perhaps not good influences for their own children.

How to Protect Children From Predators

Teach children not to talk to — or text with — with strangers. We want our children to be polite, but they must also learn when adult requests are inappropriate. Make them understand that they don’t always have to say “yes” to adults. Teach them how to say no tactfully and walk away from people who make them uncomfortable.

Online platforms provide an easy way for predators to anonymously interact with children. Predators often pose as children to gain your child’s (and your) trust. Teach your kids what online requests — like asking for photos and location—are inappropriate, and how to handle them.

If someone is contacting your child directly—whether on a gaming platform, in online comments sections, social media channels, texting, or online forums—you have a right to know who it is. And you can find out–including their true age and location–with a reverse username search. If the person has criminal records, you can find those too.

If someone has been texting your child, you can run a reverse phone lookup to find out who your child is talking to, and whether there are any red flags like inappropriate age or past arrests to be aware of.

How to Protect Children from Cyberbullies

Thanks to the internet, bullies can hide anonymously behind the safety of a screen to abuse others. However, you can learn who is behind the username(s) harassing your child online again with a username search. Find contact information to identify the harasser and open up a dialogue. If the perpetrator is underage, contact their parents to alert them to their child’s behavior.

If you suspect you know who may be bullying your child, you can run a name search in Spokeo to find out what websites they have accounts with, and what usernames they often use.

Rachel Martin (*name has been changed) has always liked solving puzzles. She often dreamed of going into intelligence or law enforcement, but she never pictured herself working for a large federal agency (name omitted for privacy reasons) hunting down child predators. The prospect wasn’t entirely appealing, given the toll the effort of tracking sexual predators […]

Rachel Martin (*name has been changed) has always liked solving puzzles. She often dreamed of going into intelligence or law enforcement, but she never pictured herself working for a large federal agency (name omitted for privacy reasons) hunting down child predators.

The prospect wasn’t entirely appealing, given the toll the effort of tracking sexual predators can have on both sides. For the children and families being victimized, the experience is agonizing. For the law enforcement agents—especially a mother of two like Martin—trying to find offenders who are actively exploiting children can wreak havoc on one’s mental health. Law enforcement has one of the highest suicide rates for any profession in the US, just behind medical doctors and dentists, so Martin’s decision to take on the agency role was not taken lightly.

However, her calling to help won out and she now serves as an intelligence officer helping to find missing or exploited children, tracking sex offenders, and generating the information the agency needs to prosecute cases. Given her unique position as both a mother and an intelligence officer, Martin shared some tips on how to be vigilant about your children’s safety and curb the risk of your children developing dangerous relationships with potential predators.

Know What Platforms and Apps Your Kids Are On

Martin recommends keeping social media accounts to a minimum, and keeping necessary ones locked down so they are difficult for children to access. Even with seemingly harmless games like Minecraft, a potential predator can see your internet IP address. Criminals can use this information to track your actual, physical location.

Additionally, parents aren’t always aware of what different apps do, or who can get in touch with their children, but they should. Some apps, like Calculator% or Audio Manager, serve as an innocuous-looking front. When clicked, however, they lead to a lock screen that can access hidden photos and private materials.

The Calculator% app allows users to hide photos behind the facade of a calculator

Another app, Omegle, allows anonymous conversations online about anything, which can lead to in appropriate communications like sexting, fast. On its own site, Omegle warns, “predators have been known to use Omegle, so please be careful.” Adults on such apps can ask children and teens for information like their age and location, which kids may supply not realizing they don’t have to.

Your Kids Are Sexting Younger Than You Think

When asked the ages of her two young children, Martin hesitates–she’s very accustomed to keeping information about her children shielded from prying eyes. When asked what advice she has for families to keep children safe from predators, trafficking, cyber bullying and more, she doesn’t hesitate. She wants parents to not fool themselves into thinking that exposure to the uglier sides of life waits to start at a certain age.

“Kids as young as 10 are sexting, and they don’t understand the implications,” she explains. She relays that sadly, extortion can often follow after sexting. Predators realize the blackmail and black market sale value of possessing such materials, and will target victims’ families to get a pay day.

Extortion and Cyberbullying Often Accompany Exploitation

It is sadly not uncommon for predators to not only solicit inappropriate materials from victims but to also attempt to extort them by threatening to leak or distribute those materials. These extortion attempts carry both financial and psychological consequences. Martin shares the story of Amanda Dodd as a cautionary tale. Dodd was just a teenager when a man she met online flattered her and convinced her to flash him on an online video chat. He took a photo of her then proceeded to follow her online for years, asking for “another show”. While she refused, he distributed the image around to people close to her. After years of cyberbullying, she entered a downward spiral of drugs, sexual affairs and alcohol, ultimately taking her own life at just 15 years old. Martin warns predators like those in the Dodd case often have numerous victims.

Parents, Don’t Share Information on Social Networks

Martin monitors her children’s online and mobile app activity very closely. She doesn’t believe kids should be on Snapchat, for example. Snapchat is a popular messaging app that unintentionally but unmistakably changed the sexting game due to its design that deletes photos after they’ve been viewed. However, the recipient of a message can still screenshot images or stills from videos to keep a copy forever.

She also is very wary about parents who create social media accounts on behalf of their children or share photos and information about their children on their own accounts. This activity can inadvertently share children’s locations, where they go to school, where photos are often posted from (home, location). Combined with “check-in” information on tools like FourSquare, a predator can easily know where your family is or visits often. If you check into an airport, that predator can infer you will be traveling for some time. Even putting your children’s names and school name on your car can give a predator clues about how to find your family.

Most Victims Know Their Abuser

Martin explains that sometimes the perpetrators love the feeling of control that accompanies the exploitation of children. She warns that abusers can take advantage of relationships they already have with victims.The Saffron Centre, an organization dedicated to providing counseling to victims of sexual abuse, agrees: It states that a staggering 90% of child sexual abuse victims actually know their abuser. So for parents, it’s a wise precaution to get to know the people in their children’s inner circle.

Typically, Only Older Predators Have Had Time To Develop a Criminal Record by Now

[Editor’s note: You can also use Spokeo to search criminal records via a reverse phone number lookup, name, user name, or by reverse searching addresses in your neighborhood with occupants you feel uncomfortable about.]

How to Use Spokeo for Internet Safety

Martin uses Spokeo to find the social media profiles, like Facebook profiles, of predators that she cannot find on Facebook itself. This can help her determine the locations where victims are being held, and identify perpetrators and those in their inner circle. She can also use it to confirm the identities of victims, and discern when these people are, in fact, underage. She can also search known perpetrators by their commonly used usernames and variations on those usernames to find social media profiles, recent addresses, relatives and phone numbers, etc.

The average parent can use Spokeo to see public records—like criminal records and sometimes arrest records (depending on the state where the record exists)—to know whether a neighbor, coach, friend’s parents, has a criminal background. This can include convictions for possession of child pornography, extortion, unlawful contact with a minor, criminal exploitation of a child, trafficking and more.

Bullies used to just corner you on the playground, push you in a locker, or spread unbelievable rumors about you. Today they take their power trips online, where they can do some real – and lasting – damage. Parents struggling to help their kids deal with cyberbullies are at one huge disadvantage: no one cyberbullied […]

Bullies used to just corner you on the playground, push you in a locker, or spread unbelievable rumors about you. Today they take their power trips online, where they can do some real – and lasting – damage. Parents struggling to help their kids deal with cyberbullies are at one huge disadvantage: no one cyberbullied them – it wasn’t a thing back then, so how can you know what it’s like?

Cyberbullying is particularly insidious because it lingers online for a long time and because the anonymity of the Internet coaxes vicious responses from the bullies and their online gangs. Complicating matters further, kids live and die by their online personalities, they are as important (or more important) than who they are offline, so cyberbullies can have a devastating effect on a kid’s budding social life.

Identify Your Bully

Know who your bully is in real life. Targets of localized cyberbullies will usually know who it is – some other kid in class, or a punk that lives in the neighborhood. But a lot of time the attacks from someone online – someone hiding behind a profile or handle on a forum or website.

You should try to get the person’s email address. If you can, you can put it into a reverse lookup search engine and see who they really are. You can even get their home address. You can find an email address on their profile, usually, or you can create a fake identity and try to coax it out of them.

If someone is harassing you on social media, it’s even easier to find them. Take their name and general location and plug it into the same reverse lookup engine – you’ll be shocked at how fast you can pinpoint just who the bully is in real life.

Block Your Bully, Block Their Friends

Most social media platforms, websites and other online services have great ways to block abusive users. Report the bully and all of their friends, and block them. They may retaliate, calling you or your child a coward for running away, but if you’re out of sight you are out of mind. The bully will forget about you and move on. If you can’t ID your bully, this may be the best option you’ve got to keep your peace of mind online.

Take Your Personal Information Offline

Take all of your personal information offline. Don’t list your hobbies, family members, address or other personal info on your social media profiles or other online profiles. The less info a bully has to use against you, the less powerful they’ll be. This is also a good idea to protect you from real predators that are out there and keeps your privacy intact.

Make Internet Security a Priority

Make sure you’re logging out of accounts, changing passwords regularly and using secure browsers. Don’t leave browsing histories on public computers, don’t share passwords and use general common sense to keep your sensitive info under lock and key. Bullies love to hack into social media accounts, steal photos, friend lists and find incriminating info.

Fight Them in Court

Want to take the fight to the bully? Sue them. Report them to the police, the FBI, or other authorities. Schools are typically ineffective at responding to cyberbullies, but law enforcement may take it more seriously especially if there’s a possibility the bully is part of a terrorist group or is planning violent action like a school shooting.

Contact an attorney and hire your own, legal, bully. See if there’s a case for a lawsuit. Dragging a bully or their family through the expense and hassle of a lawsuit will teach them a lesson.

Cyberbullies shrivel and fade away when you shine the flashlight on them. Finding out who they are, posting it online and fighting back by reporting them or even suing them will help you end the problem.

Pets are like family and for a dog or cat owner, there’s no scarier thought than your pet going missing. Unfortunately, pets stray from home much more often than we could have though. According to Petfinder, the American Humane Society estimates that there are over 10 million stolen or lost dogs and cats in the U.S. every […]

Pets are like family and for a dog or cat owner, there’s no scarier thought than your pet going missing. Unfortunately, pets stray from home much more often than we could have though. According to Petfinder, the American Humane Society estimates that there are over 10 million stolen or lost dogs and cats in the U.S. every year. Petfinder also states that one in three pets will become lost at some point during their life. That’s absolutely awful!

At Spokeo, we’re focused on helping people connect, but we’re here to help furry friends in need too! Recently, we heard from one very lively customer about how our search tools were integral in getting one special Siberian Husky back to his family…

One late night, dog finder/Spokeo user (and organizer of Lost and Found Paws in LA Metro Area Facebook Group) Helen Trimble, came across an online message from a family who was missing their beloved Husky. It noted that the family couldn’t “eat or sleep” without “Sly” and that they “missed him terribly.” Helen knew she was needed and immediately began her tried and true search methods. She located a “found dog” post that she was pretty sure matched Sly’s description, down to his “yellow Tweedy Bird collar.” She was thrilled to tell the family as soon as she could, but there was a complication — Sly’s family had forgotten to include their contact information in the original message!

Helen knew exactly what to do. “We went on Spokeo and we found the address!”

Being that it was so late at night, she wasn’t sure if they should wait for the morning, but the person who had found Sly noted that if the family wasn’t eating or sleeping they’d probably appreciate getting him back no matter what time of night. So with Helen as her guide on the speakerphone, she biked to Sly’s family’s house and the family was joyfully reunited with their dog.

Spokeo is thrilled to have provided the missing link in a crucial and stressful moment.

If you ever find a lost dog and need to look up its owner’s information, simply plug in the details you know such as name or phone number at www.spokeo.com.